This invention relates to apparatus utilized for harvesting propolis in a honeybee colony.
Beekeepers recognize that bees depend on honey for their carbohydrate food component and pollen for their protein requirements. Typically, these items are collected and stored by the bees to be later made available to the colony during periods of short supply. In addition, bees are known to collect a brownish, waxy substance called propolis from the buds of certain trees. This material is utilized by the bees to cement or caulk their hives primarily during their dormant season. By so doing, the bees winterize the hive structure and substantially reduce the chilling effect of the wind on the colony.
Recently, the proteinaceous character of pollen and propolis has been recognized as making these substances highly beneficial to the human diet. This recognition has generated increasing interest in ways to efficiently and effectively collect and harvest the substances on a commercial basis. The major activity has been heretofore directed to pollen gathering and a variety of different pollen traps have been described in the literature and tested in the bee colonies. However, propolis collection continues to rely on the scraping by hand of deposits in the cracks and openings of the individual hive structures. Since propolis deposition is uncontrolled and often occurs in remote portions of the hive, the gathering frequently results in the presence of contaminants such as paint, wood or other impurities. In addition, the yield per hive is low and the quality non-uniform. The amount of propolis available from a bee colony is related to the hive structure utilized in the primary honey and pollen gathering operations. Since these traditional operations are the major contributors to the beekeeper's income, the harvesting structure for propolis must be made compatible with existing hive structures.
A pollen trap is a device placed in the travel path of honey bees returning to their colony after foraging during the active season. The bees carry pollen in pouches on their legs. To effect removal of pollen from the bees, one or more mesh screens are placed in their travel path within the hive structure. As the bees crawl through the screen the pollen is dislodged from their legs and is collected in a container made inaccessible to the bees by a fine mesh covering.
The collection of pollen on a large scale commercial basis requires that effective pollen trapping be accomplished by a structure that is compatible with commercial equipment presently utilized and be multi-functional so that it does not require dismantling of the colony during normal operation. Thus, it is highly desirable that a trap be capable of being utilized at the bottom, top or in a mid-range position in a bee colony and to have trapping and non-trapping capabilities in each position. Further, the use of a pollen trap should minimize any disturbance of the honey bee colony or the normal flight path of the bee. In addition, it is recommended that the trap employed interfere as little as practical with the required ventilation pattern within the bee colony and particularly within the region surrounding the container of trapped pollen.
Pollen traps which can be included within the hive structure and thus protected from the adverse climatic conditions and various chemical substances in the area are preferred for commercial use. As a result, a number of bottom traps have been described in the literature. The typical manner of providing for the bottom trapping of pollen is to incorporate a pollen scraping screen at or proximate to the bee entrance of the colony with a trapping container incorporated in the base of the colony. In structures wherein the trapping container is positioned just below the bee entryway the pollen is likely to be rendered unsuitable for sale as a result of either exposure to the environment or lack of adequate ventilation. In many bottom traps, the pollen is subject to contamination by external sources or by trash generated within the colony by the bees. Also, small animals and insects are often able to invade the trapping container of modified base structure colonies. As a result, the industry is adapting trapping structures wherein trapping takes place in an internal bee passageway which communicates between the hive body and the external environment.
This invention is concerned with the provision of a propolis gathering device for use with pollen traps that can be incorporated in a bee colony at top, intermediate or bottom trapping positions. In practice, the structure should conform to the dimensions of the conventional colony so it can be positioned on and employed with the colony base to elevate the trapping container from ground level when used as a bottom trap. The structure permits the beekeeper to engage in either trapping of pollen or non-trapping with or without the collection of propolis without requiring removal of the structure from the colony. One such pollen trap is sold by Robson Honey & Supply Co., Phoenix, Ariz. and is marketed as the "ROB-BEE" trap and readily incorporates the subject matter of the present invention.